The decision of the Madhya Pradesh government to withdraw the rabi crops of chana, masur and mustard from the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (BBY) have caught traders by surprise.
The decision of the Madhya Pradesh government to withdraw the rabi crops of chana, masur and mustard from the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (BBY) have caught traders by surprise. The state has decided to procure these crops at minimum support price, instead. Under BBY, the government pays farmers the deficit in case of a price fall.
The government, which is under immense pressure to reduce farmer unrest in an election year, has included garlic and onion under BBY.
Sources in government and trade confirmed that delay by the central government to pay 50% of the expenses on BBY as promised, was the main reason behind the decision. Even after three months, it has not received close to Rs 1,000 crore from the central government.
“It’s too much of a financial burden to wait for this amount in an election year when the state is concerned about reducing farmer unrest,” said sources, requesting not to be quoted.
The MP government has claimed that it has deposited Rs 1,900 crore into farmers’ bank accounts under BBY during the kharif season. It had announced that it would extend the same scheme for rabi crops and had even completed registration of farmers for the same.
However, it has reversed the decision as a result of which chana prices were expected to fall by more than 10% due to mass arrival under BBY. However, prices are expected to go up now as the government will start procurement, reducing flow of the commodity into the open market.
Rajesh Rajora, principal secretary, Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development (MP) said, “BBY in kharif season was a pilot scheme. Rabi marketing season has already started and we did not receive any circular from the Government of India about the implementation of the three schemes which were supposed to replace the price support scheme (PSS). Hence, we decided to procure pulses and oilseeds under PSS.” The three schemes that the central government was considering to replace the PSS are Market ..
As PSS allows procurement of 40% of the total production of the commodity, MP has set a target of procuring 28 lakh tonnes of pulses and oilseeds under PSS (chana-21 lakh tonne, masur- 3 lakh tonnes and mustard - 4 lakh tonnes).
Madhya Pradesh has announced a state price of Rs 800/quintal for onion and Rs 3,200/quintal for garlic under BBY. “Garlic prices are likely to decline due to bumper production, while onion will not need BBY as of now as market prices are ruling above the state price,” said Rajora
Incentives to tame farmer unrest:
Chief Minister Shivaj Singh Chauhan announced a bonus of Rs 100/quintal over MSP for chana, masur and mustard.
The state has decided to deposit an additional amount at the rate of Rs 200/quintal in farmers’ bank accounts by April 16 for wheat and dhan (paddy) that farmers had sold in the previous year.
For the current year, it has given farmers the option of selling wheat either at MSP procurement centres or in the open market if they can get a better rate. Irrespective of place and price of sale, farmers will be eligible to get Rs 265/quintal over and above the MSP under Mukhyamantri Krishak Samridhdhi Yojana.